Peter Jackson Not Doing LOTR, DCEU

Peter Jackson has debunked two recent rumors, confirming that he is not involved in the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series for Amazon nor any movies in the DC Extended Universe.

Both of these refutations come from an interview with the French outlet Allocine.

Jackson has created many notable works, but by far is most well-known for the Lord of the Rings film series, considered by many fans to be a masterpiece; he also wound up directing the Hobbit trilogy, which is more divisive (and which he admits was not his best work), but nevertheless proved incredibly successful financially.

Given that he is the only person who has ever adapted Tolkien’s stories into live-action, many have expected/hoped that he would join the Amazon series in some capacity. However, he has shot down that rumor, saying “I’m not involved at all in the Lord of the Rings series. I understand how my name could come up, but there is nothing happening with me on this project.”

This is sure to disappoint some Tolkien fans. Word of the Amazon series has been controversial since it was announced; while Tolkien certainly left behind a lot of stories that could be adapted, they are very deep and complex, and the idea of using it for an ongoing TV series, as opposed to a carefully-crafted film, seems off to many.

Those who believed that Jackson would turn down a job with Lord of the Rings have been claiming that he was actually hired by Warner Bros. for a project in the DCEU. This, too, is apparently just a rumor, as apparently this does not tie into to Jackson’s particular geeky interests.

“That’s not true. I had no discussions about that,” he said. “I’m not a fan of comics, I’ve never read any, so I’m not particularly interested in adapting one for cinema. That’s not true at all.”

This, too, will disappoint DCEU fans, as the franchise has struggled in its first few years and a talented director like Jackson could have perhaps helped turn things around. Nevertheless, its upcoming entries (Aquaman, Shazam, Wonder Woman 2) seem to be proceeding well, and Warner Bros. did recently sign up Stephen Spielberg for a Blackhawk movie, so it can always get its artistic cred there.